Sunday 27 May 2018

Houndstooth Check Coat

How ridiculous is it that I made a coat in summer? I mean talk about an unseasonable make. I literally cannot wear this for a few more months but at least that gives me some time to sort out the issues I have with it. 


For starters yes this is a LOT of coat. Its definitely not a coat for the shrink violet kind of person. Luckily I've grown into my weirdness so I love it and I'll wear it with pride. 

The fabric itself is from the Abakhans fill a bag sale and I knew I HAD to make a coat from it as soon as I saw it. There was about 2.5/3m of it and it filled about a third of a bag so it cost around £3/4 for the lot. 


The pattern is by prima and I already used it to make this coat. I extended the pattern by about 30cm because I only wear winter coats if they cover my bum. Mainly because if the coat covers your bum you don't have to worry about if your dress has got stuck to your tights and ridden up because no one can see it anyway.


I added in seam pockets because I like to have somewhere to keep my keys in my coat. They turned out pretty nicely but they do sit better when the coat is open rather than when its closed! 


The coat is fully lined in some cotton that I had in my stash. Truthfully the lining is pulling in a lot of these pictures. I've done some measuring and the lining is slightly longer than the coat so it shouldn't be pulling. However! It is a cotton rather than a slippery fabric [Slippery fabrics are typically used for linings because they are easier to get on and off] and I think the cotton is snagging on the clothes I wear underneath so I either need to detach the lining at the bottom of the coat and leave it open or I need to take out the whole lining and put a new one in.


Here you can see how bag the pulling is. Funnily enough I put it on ten minutes later and there was no pulling. I did put it on a lot more carefully though and putting on a coat carefully is not something I want to be faffing around with.


Its got belt loops and a belt instead of buttons and I really like it however Lil man immediately asked me why I;d made a new dressing gown *sobs*


The material was quite a loose weave so I over locked every single piece before I started sewing. Which yes took bloody ages but was worth it for the piece of mind that it won't just fall apart after one wash or wear. 


I love the really big collar. I think it looks super cool. Rikki however said that the whole coat made me look like Huggy Bear, who I was hoping was going to be a fun Disney character but as it turns out Huggy Bear is a pimp from Starsky and Hutch and was played by Snoop Dog in the remake. Which not gonna lie made me feel a bit better about the comment because Snoop Dog is awesome.  


Also my hair doesn't look like this any more. In fact its back to blonde with a few pink streaks. I'm currently taking suggestions for what to do next with my hair. 


So all in all I really really love this coat I just have no chance to wear it at the moment which sucks. However I'm not complaining about the weather because its been quite nice not to be soggy all the time if you catch my drift? I feel like our winters are so wet and miserable that I spend most of my time trying to dry my coat or shoes and never quite getting them less than damp before I have to wear them again! 

Much Love 

Frankie 



Wednesday 23 May 2018

Me Made May Week 3

I've still not repeated a me made item. Which either means I've got a good amount of clothes or I have too many!


Day 15 - tropical print crop top
pattern - gbsb

I layer these crop tops under my vest tops a lot. Its a cute outfit but nothing to write home about.


Day 16

Dress pattern - gbsb corset top and box pleat skirt
dress fabric - aunty shelias curtains

I can't remember what I did this day but I was worried that the skirt on this dress might be a bit short! Oh actually I can remember I popped to abakhans to get the bits for my next sewing demo whilst the boys shopped for a new chapter book for lil mans bedtime stories!


Day 17
Top pattern - Simple sew kimono dress worn tied as a top
top fabric - abakhans 

I think I did some sewing on this day? Not a clue. I like the top though, I tend to wear it more now as a cardi or a top rather than a dress.


Day 18 -  Liberty Print pencil skirt and Kinder cardigan
skirt Pattern - GBSB 
skirt Fabric Abakhans
Cardigan Fabric - Minerva

Okay so 1. I had forgotten how much I love this skirt, even if I did have to pin the waistband tighter with a safety pin and 2. This is the best colour my hair has been so far. If I were to go permanent this is the shade I'd want. 


Day 18 BONUS! 
Tie dye dress
Fabric - abakhans
Pattern - hacked GBSB cami 

I went out for drinks with the mums from school on friday and decided it was a nice oppourtunity to dress up a bit. So I wore this mini dress with my long cardigan [I'm happy to report that after it dawned on me how much I wear this cardigan I made myself one in grey]. I was a proper dirty stop out and didn't get to bed until about 1! But I had a great time!


Day 19 - Unicorn Jumper
Pattern - Prima
Fabric - adam ross
 When I woke up it was quite cold and I had a banging headache from the night before [Not from excessive alcohol consumption, I only had one glass of wine. Just because I had stayed up late and didn't sleep well.] I got changed into something lighter on top later and had an early night!


Day 20 
Dress pattern - cami dress hack GBSB
Dress fabric- Carboot
Cardigan pattern - Wendy ward Kinder Cardigan
Cardigan Fabric - Abkhans

This is the cardigan that I made the day before. I call this outfit I forgot to lay clothes out. Basically It was a Sunday and Rikki was on nights so by the time it was time for me to get dressed he was fast asleep and LORD KNOWS! you do not wake that man if he gets to sleep! So the cardigan I made the day before and the dress was fresh from the washing line!


Day 21 - Tartan Skirt
skirt pattern - prima
skirt fabric - Curtain

I made this skirt awhile ago and whilst I love it I've never worn it because I don't have many tops that look good with it. Luckily I realised I have a few more pale tops than last year so I tried it again. I actually really like this look. Its a bit preppy but I kind of like that! 

And that's my third week! 

My last week is going to be my last ten outfits and then I might do a post on whats missing from my wardrobe? And then try and fill those holes. 

To be honest though I kind of like where my wardrobe is at the minute. I have a good mixture of winter and summer clothes and I have a great selection of RTW items that I can pair with them. So I might just keep sewing fun clothes that I want to wear! 

What do you think? Fun clothes or practical?

Much Love 

Frankie 

P.S I totally want to wear my tutu in the last week and I think I have just the right occasion for it so watch this space!!!! 





Monday 21 May 2018

70's Style Dress in Adam Ross Fabric

Do you ever just pick a fabric because you think its pretty but not actually have any idea what to do with it?

That's what I did when Adam Ross asked me what my blogger pick fabric would be. I was like "oooooh stars! pretty". It instantly took me back to being younger when star prints were MASSIVELY in fashion and searching through the topshop rails trying to find something that might fit and cover at least three inches of my bum. [FYI I never found anything in top shop as a teenager ever! It was always too small! Do they even stock clothes over a size ten?]


Anyway naturally because I had no idea what I wanted to do with the fabric I left it to the kind people of instagram to decide. The first two patterns are vintage and the last one is a Gertie pattern that came free with an issue of love sewing. 

And instagram chose..........

Pattern number two! Which apart from being a "style" pattern I have no other information about because LOL that's literally the only part of the pattern envelop that's fallen off! [BTW I would highly recommend using Instagram as a way of deciding what patterns etc to use.]


I think the dress turned out super cute [Ignore my miserable face on the pictures I'm having trouble with the shutter remote on my digital camera]

The fabric is very floaty and frays a little bit so I decided to over lock all of my seams before I started to sew. Its a complete faff but its worth it to make sure that your dress lasts and it makes the insides look really neat. 


The actual construction was done on my regular machine though. Sadly you can't see a lot of the details because of how busy the print is. For example you can't see the pin tucks on the front bodice and you can't really see the collar! I do recommend using sharp pins on a fabric like this though because you don't want it to pull. 


What you can see however is those FABULOUS sleeves!!!! I had forgotten how much I love a 70's style sleeve! I have no idea what kind of sleeve it is? Bishop maybe? But I like it and I even manged to get just the right amount of tightness on the elastic in the cuffs. Normally If I have to add elastic to anything I make it so tight that my blood circulation gets cut off and my hand turns blue............


I'm not keen on the back seam so I might later the pattern to take that out. I just can't really work out why its there. It also needs another good press, I had to be really careful pressing the fabric because I was terrified of burning a hole right in the middle of the fabric. As it goes I managed to avoid all ironing related disasters but I was being really really careful! I used a pressing cloth and kept my iron on a really low setting.  


The collar is the only thing on the dress that's interfaced so the whole dress swishes really nicely. Its one of those dress that when you wear it you just parade yourself around the house swishing and swirling and just generally making a bit of a muppet of yourself, whilst feeling very proud. 

I'm wearing a slip underneath but I think if this was just a top I wouldn't need it. Really the only reason I have a slip on is just in case but really the fabric is quite opaque for such a delicate fabric. 


I didn't make any major changes to the pattern apart from taking quite a lot of the length and lowering the neckline slightly. Because I'm a bit more saucy than those 70's women [although if history teaches us anything its that the 70's were a pretty free and easy time!] 


As you can see from the picture above I do have to belt the dress because its a bit of a tent but I like the loose fit and I think it might be good for wearing as a cover up on the beach. 

I'm actually hoping that the weather might cool a bit soon just so I can get chance to wear it! I can't be doing with long sleeves in hot weather. 

Or is that a bit selfish of me?

Much Love

Frankie 

xxx

discalimer - whilst Adam Ross sent me this fabric all thought and views are my own.



Thursday 17 May 2018

Tropical Newlook 6390

I finally managed to get around to taking some pictures of my new makes. I had to order a new remote shutter for my other digital camera and its a bit slower than the one for my slr hence why my face looks so grumpy in all of these pictures. I'm still holding onto hope that my Father in law might be able to fix it [he mends scalextric so hes very good at things like that] But if he can't Rikki has suggested we try getting a second hand lens to use in the hopes that its the lens and not the body of the camera.  


This fabric was sent to me by the craft cotton company. I love a good tropical print but I was concerned this might be a bit much on me and typically I don't wear green but as it goes I LOVE this dress!!!! 


I used Newlook 6390 for the pattern. I've made the dress before but wasn't entirely happy with the fabric I use and to be honest I haven't worn it much. 

I did however really like the shape of the pattern because it does some sort of witchcraft to my waist and makes it look tiny!


I had wanted it to have a front button placket and no zip like my first version however the interfacing I used was much too thick so it was a really struggle to do up the buttons. So instead I stitched the button placket closed by hand and put a lapped zip in the back. 

So technically now the front placket is a faux front but it wasn't meant to be!


The bodice is lined but the skirt isn't. I always worry that lining the bodice will make the dress too warm to wear but it actually means that the bodice is a little bit thick so you can go bra less if you want! Usually I do wear a bra like the pictures at the top, but there's nothing better than being able to whip your bra off if its feeling uncomfortable and knowing the girls aren't going to hit you ankles. 


The buttons for the front of the dress were given to me by my friend Steve, I think either his mum or Nan had brought them originally.

Now here's the really fun bit! If you'd like to learn how to make a dress like this I'll be demonstrating how to make one at Abakans Hanley on Saturday the 9th of June! 

In other news! 

My hair has faded loads since I took these pictures and I'm glad I didn't make it permanent because I'm already a but bored with it to be honest!

Much Love

Frankie 

x



Tuesday 15 May 2018

Me Made May Week 2

Hey Folks!

As if we've already done two weeks of me made may? This is where I usually start wanting to give up on wearing me mades, which is surprising because I wear me mades most of the time anyway!

But for those of you not on instagram or not following me here what my week in outfits looked like!


Day 8
Dress pattern - mccalls 7381
Dress fabric -  viscose from abakhans

Not gonna lie I have no idea what I did on this day. But apparently it was hot and I had hayfever. Im still in two minds about this dress, its lovely and cool to wear on hot days but I;m still not sure its really that flattering.


Day 9
Dress pattern - Butterick b6318

This was one of the mornings I really struggled with getting dressed. I challenged myself to wear as many different me mades as I could this year but it does mean I;m taking ages in the morning trying to pull an outfit together that's out of my comfort zone. On this particular morning I;d already had one outfit on and got changed 5 mins before we were due to leave for school! So naturally I pick up this dress and threw it on because I always feel pretty and confident in it. It also means that now instead of settling on an outfit the night before I give myself 2 options that are different and 1 old favourite! 


Day 10

Skirt pattern - prima magazine
Skirt fabric - Abkahans 

This was another morning where I struggled. I originally had this top on with a different skirt but the colours were a bit off so I switched for this one. The issue with the first skirt is that its very pale and I tend to wear darker colours so pale is out of my comfort skirt. It is on the pile to be worn next week however and I've put a couple of different tops to the side that I think might look good with it. To be honest though I didn't wear this all day. Later on I was struck with blooming awful period pain so I put on my jammies #noregrets  


Day 11

Skirt pattern - no pattern, just gathered skirt

I;d made this skirt the night before after despairing that all of my nice skirts were made from wool which is too warm for the changeable weather we are having. I really like the simple style and it worked well throughout the day. It also got to take a trip to our local doctors when lil man banged his nose! 


Day 12 


This is absolutely the dress of dreams. Its comfy its skims over my lumpy bits and the skirt doesn't blow up on a windy day! I can definitely see me making a whole wardrobe of these for day to day wear! 


Day 13
Dress Pattern - Audrey Dress
Dress fabric - linen from Abakhans
This is the day I dyed my hair pink. Its an idea I've been toying with for a while now and in the end I thought screw it and just did it! Its wash in wash out so it'll only last a few weeks but so far I really really like it! I chose a simple dress to let my freshly dyed hair shine through!


Day 14
Dress pattern lilou dress by tilly and the buttons
Dress fabric - abakhans 

This was a weird day. Number 1 it was a Monday so we had to trot ourselves off to school and it was lil mans first day back at school after bumping his nose [his "girlfriend" brought him sweets in because she'd been so worried about him!] and my first day seeing the other mums with pink hair. I saw one mum giggling and whispering with her friends whilst looking in my direction [ I'm not paranoid, I know they've laughed at things I've worn etc before so I'm pretty sure they were laughing at me again] and typically I just drop my head and don't say anything but this time I just stared the B***h down. Literally didn't take my eyes off her until she was bright red so she'd know I'd heard her. 



So there's not much more to go. At the moment my biggest issue is making sure my hair doesn't clash with my clothes! But I'm still on track so that's a good thing!

How are you doing with your pledge?

Much Love

Frankie 

xxx

Sunday 13 May 2018

DIY Tailors Ham and Sleeve Roll


A while ago I posted a question on instagram asking whether I should make my own tailors ham or buy one. 

And the response was mixed to say the least. No literally the replies were split down the middle which makes me think a lot is personal preference. The pros of making one were that I could choose whatever fabric I liked [ie. make it personal] And that its cheaper than buying one and the pros of buying one was that I could save a lot of time! 


At the time funds were low so I decided to make my own. I didn't even spend anything! I used a free pattern from craftsy and we already keep sawdust in the house for the guinea pig so I didn't need to buy any of that to stuff it with. [You can also use fabric scraps if you don't like the sound of using sawdust although traditionally that is whats used and the wood does something magic with the heat of your iron meaning the seams press better. I'm sure theirs a science explanation but *magic* sounds better.]

I made both the tailors ham and sleeve roll at the same time and they only took about 30 mins to print off, tape together, cut out and sew. In fact the majority of the time spent on these was for stuffing the bloody things! 

WARNING to anyone who's thinking of making one using sawdust, Its blooming messy. We had sawdust across the house for ages and it sticks to everything. You see you have to really cram it in to make it nice and firm for ironing your seams. In the end I enlisted Rikkis help and things went like this:

-I'd sit and spend 30/40 minutes cramming sawdust in through the little gap I'd left.
- I'd say I think its done....
-Rikki would come over and cram all the stuffing down, compacting it and inevitability leaving me with a gap to fill with yet more stuffing! 

Lets just say it took at lot longer than I thought and I used a lot more saw dust than I thought, and I was glad I had Rikki on hand to "punch" it down so to speak.


Fabric wise I used a cotton fat quarter from Minerva crafts for the front and some spare boiled wool for the back. I sewed the seams using a small stitch on my machine and then over locked them for security. The gap I left for stuffing was sewn shut by hand [ if your making your own I suggest leaving a fairly large gap as it makes it easier to stuff. I started off with a little gap and ended up throwing a tantrum] 

 I think my favourite part of this make might be the fabric I used. It was nice to use up some of the left over boiled wool and I really liked using up a sewing themed fat quarter for a sewing themed project! I can't find the fabric I used on the website but I think it would also be cute made up in this. 


Now the funny thing is the morning I finished these I received a gift in the post from Prym and lo and behold it was their tailors ham and sleeve roll! Which is kind of hilarious but also gives me a good opportunity to compare the two so look out for a post soon that compares my handmade tailors ham with the real deal! 

In other news! 

- I'm tired, It sounds stupid but I haven't been sleeping well so if anyone has any ideas of how I can get a decent nights sleep I'd really appreciate it. But preferably with lavender as it brings Rikki out in a rash and as much as I'd like a good nights sleep him next to me whimpering that his skin hurts won't help! 

- Lil mans nose is much better. A cotton pad, a warm bath and a lot of patience helped to get all of the dried blood off his nose and he was really brave whilst I cleaned it up. Its still swollen and he says it still hurts a bit but its not bleeding as much and a lot of the bruising has gone so that's good. 

Much Love

Frankie 

xxx




Friday 11 May 2018

Knitted Baby Booties and Hat

I was supposed to be putting this post up earlier, but lo and behold I ended up taking Lil man to the out of hours clinic with Rikkis Dad because he fell over and bashed his nose at school and made it bleed and I was worried it might be broken. 

It was a long wait which was made slightly longer by the fire alarm going off, but its worth it for peace of mind and I can't fault any of the NHS staff or nurses because they were fantastic with him. He actually ended up having 3 nurses look at his nose because they wanted to make sure it was definitely okay. 


So naturally we got home late and I didn't have time to post until now! 

So this is a little baby set I knitted up a while ago because its useful to have one to hand. I used some nice soft baby yarn that I was given by someone, I have absolutely no clue who though so if it was you please feel free to shout up. 

I used an old knitting pattern that I borrowed from Rikkis Nan. It knitted up fairly quickly which is nice because I fit it between other projects.


The booties are a mixture of stocking stitch and garter stitch so they look quite textured. The instructions said to thread Ribbon through the holes to tie them but I made twists from wool instead. 


The hat was from the same pattern but I;m not as pleased with that as I think it looks a bit lumpy at the top. I wanted to knit a helmet type hat but I've made one of those before and babies don't tend to wear that type of style anymore. 

I've popped the set in the drawer ready for the next baby to be born. Luckily as their a light sort of turquoise I think they'll do for a girl or for a boy. 

Right I'm off to bed today ended up being a lot more stressful than I thought it would be!!

Much Love

Frankie 

xxx

Tuesday 8 May 2018

Me Made May Week 1

Well the first week of Mays been a bit of a mare hasn't it? I think we've seen most of the seasons and a lot of different types of weather! So without further ado here's what I wore for the first week!

P.s I tend to do these roundups so I can see the issues with my me made wardrobe and for those of you who don't have instagram! Also all pictures are mirror selfies using my digital camera because my phone camera is naff.


Day 1
Dress pattern - newlook 6390

I really really love this dress and I feel all kinds of fabulous in it but BOY! Did I miss judge the weather on this day!!!  It looked this it was going to be a sunny toasty day so I did the school run only wearing a cardigan and I was FREEZING! So glad I had tights on at least.


Day 2
Jumper pattern , prima magazine

This was the day we had awful rain, and one of our brollies broke as we left the house. Needless to say the walk to school left me soaked and I couldn't get warm all day! The next day I 
ended up with a sore throat and a snotty nose.


Day 3
jumper fabric minerva crafts

I felt so rotten on this day. I was pretty impressed I stuck to my pledge and didn't just end up wearing a onesie. I still had a nice day though because my sister and brother in law popped over to see us before they went off on their big American adventure!


Day 4
Fabric - abakhans 

This was another pretty cold day so I wore my tape measure dress with tights and a cardigan to keep me warm. I love this fabric and I really want to use one of the other colourways to make another dress. 


Day 5
Dress pattern - simplicity k1418
Fabric - Carboot

This was our first proper sunny day. I've been trying to help lil man gain confidence on his bike so this dress ran up and down our road a few times! Its a great dress and one of those rare occasions where I hemmed it to the right length. The thick hem also means that the hem is heavy so it doesn't blow up.


Day 6

Fabric - gift from friend pin_n_tonic [similar here]

This dress is one of my oldest makes and its starting to show. A lot of the lace is starting to rip but I still love it!!! Note to self make another! 
This dress was worn for yet more bike riding practise and Rikkis Nan and Grandad coming over. By this point I'm already sick of the warm weather ! ITS TOO HOT!


Day 7 

Dress pattern Lilou Bodice with box pleat skirt

I wore this for a day in the sun at Rikkis Mum and Dads where I spent most of my time sat in the shade drinking lots of water trying to stay hydrated! We had a lot of fun playing in the garden and Rikki proved himself to be quite the hula hoop master!!! I didn't burn apart from on my back a lil smidge so I'm counting that as a win. I did wonder if the dress was a bit short but I wore it with a slip and I soon got used to having my legs out. I love the fabric and it makes me want to have a wardrobe full of Hawaiian print dresses.  

And that's it for week one! 

As much as I love the sun I'd forgotten how much it makes me struggle with my hay fever and sleeping at night. 

With regards to me me made's I'm finding that I do wear lots of them but I still have a few rtw items that I fall back on and should probably try and recreate. For example my black cardigan. 

How are you doing with me made may?

And how are you coping with the weather!!!?

Much Love 

Frankie 

xxx